Chapter 189: Walking Through the Green Mountains, Still Young
The European Super League was jointly announced by 12 clubs including Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, AC Milan and Juventus on April 18, 2021, local time in Europe.
This may be the biggest bombshell in world football in recent years.
During those days, the European Super League generated more topic heat and traffic than anything else in the world.
However, no one expected that after the official announcement of the 12 clubs, UEFA was the first to issue a statement of opposition, followed by the football associations of England, Spain and Italy which expressed clear opposition.
They issued a clear statement, saying that if the team participates in the European Super League, it will be banned from participating in the domestic league and European competitions, and the players will not be able to represent the national team in FIFA competitions. They also expressed their gratitude to the German and French clubs and called on all players, fans and everyone who loves football to boycott the European Super League, which is selfishly run by a few clubs.
Subsequently, FIFA also officially spoke out, expressing support for the development of world football in a fair and united manner, but opposed the establishment of a closed European independent league outside the international football framework, and called on all parties to engage in dialogue.
Later, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, two giants that did not appear on the list of founding clubs of the European Super League, also expressed their opposition to the European Super League.
After affecting areas beyond the sports circle, British Prime Minister Johnson and French President Macron also publicly expressed strong opposition. Even more fatal was that the Spanish government submitted a statement of accusation to the European Court of Justice, supporting UEFA's prosecution of clubs related to the European Super League.
The European Super League company that operates the European Super League is located in Madrid, Spain.
The Spanish government took the lead, and 15 European governments including Italy, France, Denmark, Portugal and Iceland successively submitted written documents to the European Court of Justice to oppose the establishment of the European Super League.
Within 48 hours, the Premier League BIG6 were the first to announce their withdrawal, followed by the two AC Milan clubs and Atletico Madrid. At this point, the European Super League was completely dead in name only.
On May 27, 2021, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus issued a joint statement: We will stick to the European Super League and we will not give in.
In November 2021, the European Parliament passed a comprehensive resolution opposing the establishment of the European Super League.
As of now, the three clubs' lawsuit regarding the legality of the European Super League and against UEFA's monopoly is still ongoing in the European Court of Justice.
How could Chen Xiaoliang not know about this?
He thought for a while before answering: "Strictly speaking, this is not a topic that players can discuss. This topic is too big. People who care about football know that there are too many conflicts of interest behind it, and this is not the first time such a wealthy organization has appeared."
Frey: "You mean the G-14 group?"
Chen Xiaoliang: “Yes.”
Frey: "Do you know G-14?"
Chen Xiaoliang: "This concept was proposed by Berlusconi, then chairman of AC Milan, in 1998. It was later established in 2000. At that time, a concept similar to the European Super League was also proposed. In the end, it chose to compromise with UEFA and was disbanded in 2008 and replaced by the European Football Club Association."
Ferre: "Wait, if I remember correctly, you were not born in 2000, and you were only 4 years old in 2008. This is a word that has long been forgotten by young people in Europe. How did you know it?"
Forehead……
Chen Xiaoliang couldn’t tell me, I knew it before I traveled through time…
Chen Xiaoliang: "I like to surf the Internet to read all the news about football, so I know a little about the past, like the video of Maradona dribbling past five players in the 1986 World Cup, which is still watched by countless people today ."
Frey: "What do you think? For or against?"
Chen Xiaoliang: "I am not clear about the specific details and original intention of the European Super League, nor am I very clear about the current operating status and profit distribution methods of UEFA's existing intercontinental competitions, but I generally feel that the European Super League is opposing UEFA's monopoly on the one hand, while creating a more extreme monopoly on the other."
Frey: "So you are against it?"
Chen Xiaoliang immediately replied: "Yes."
Ferre: "Just because of monopoly, is there a more detailed reason? If it is a monopoly as you said, then why can only UEFA be the one to monopolize it?"
Chen Xiaoliang: "Some things are not necessarily better the more they are, such as the top five leagues. Why do most of the top leagues have 20 teams? Since the top leagues have better ratings, more viewers, and more profit distribution, why not expand to 40 teams to allow more players and clubs to make money?
The answer is obvious. Blind expansion will lead to too many games, too much player fatigue, and affect the existing stable schedule.
There may be another voice, since too many teams is not good, why not reduce the number of teams, improve the quality of the league, and increase the revenue of each game? The Bundesliga with 18 teams is also running very stably.
Of course, there are 16 teams, 14 teams, or even the Scottish Premier League where I was last season, which only has 12 teams, divided into championship groups and relegation groups, but they still have to play 38 rounds of the league.
In any case, a team must ensure 30-40 games a season. I believe this is the result of the gradual reform and evolution of European football.
20 teams and 38 rounds of leagues may not be the most scientific, but it has been accepted by the vast majority of people and is generally considered to be the model that can divide the pie the biggest.
The reason why the elite clubs are now opposed to the Champions League is that there are too many teams participating in this tournament, and at the same time, "unnecessary competitions" such as the Europa League and completely "useless" competitions such as the European Cup are organized.
They are right about one thing. As the vast majority of neutral fans in the world, they naturally hope to always see confrontations between giants such as Real Madrid playing against Paris, Bayern playing against Manchester City, and Manchester United playing against Barcelona.
Now, in order to enter the Champions League knockout stage, they have to play six group matches with what they consider to be third-rate clubs, such as Viktoria Plzen, Dinamo Zagreb, and Copenhagen. These clubs seem weak, have no reputation, and have low attendance. Why don't they just play against strong teams right away? "
Ferre and Torsh listened carefully. The two-hour interview made them realize for the first time that the 17-year-old player in front of them not only performed far beyond the expectations of the outside world on the court, but his understanding of football and even the operation of society off the court had already surpassed the vast majority of active players.
"So in their view, UEFA has forced so many unnecessary matches, and in the end the UEFA Champions League round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals are still performed by these 12 top teams, supporting the UEFA Champions League brand. So the money earned by UEFA from hosting these events should be distributed more to them, rather than to those third-rate clubs who are running along and giving away points.
Thus, the European Super League was born, and they obviously understood the successful experience and reputation of the Premier League, and they attracted six Premier League clubs at once, just to direct all the ratings and popularity of the first league to this new event.
Why not six La Liga clubs? Sevilla and Villarreal have performed just as well in European competitions as Tottenham and Arsenal in recent years.
Many fans are questioning why Tottenham is called a wealthy club and why they became the founding club of the European Super League?
The reason is simple, because clubs like Arsenal and Tottenham can help the European Super League make money, but Sevilla and Villarreal cannot.
And this is exactly where the problem lies.
The reason why Sevilla and Villarreal cannot make money is that there is already a Spanish Super League in the La Liga. The two giants, Real Madrid and Barcelona, have the power to sign broadcasting rights independently. They have taken away most of the benefits that should belong to the remaining 18 clubs in the La Liga.
If Manchester United and Liverpool had signed such an agreement when the Premier League was founded in 1992, there would be no Chelsea and Manchester City later, because those oil capitals knew that no matter how much they invested in these clubs that were not eligible to share individual profits, in the end they were just giving money to the two monopoly clubs.
I spent hundreds of millions of dollars to buy a bunch of stars. More people watched the show, but most of the broadcasting fees went to other people. Which investor would approve such an investment that would obviously lose all the money? "
Ferre: "So in your opinion, the establishment of the European Super League will take away the interests of national leagues? But according to their public plan, all the European Super League games will be held in the middle of the week. It will only replace the Champions League. The clubs will still participate in the leagues of their respective countries on weekends. This actually has no impact."
Chen Xiaoliang shook his head: "No, it has a huge impact. There is a term called 'fighting for the top four' in the English, Spanish, Italian and German leagues. Why do we fight for the top four? It's to enter the Champions League. Why do we enter the Champions League? Because there we can not only play against the best teams, but also share huge benefits.
Now that the European Super League has been born, the 15 founding clubs will be regular participants and will no longer take part in the Champions League. Even if these 15 teams finish 15th or 17th in the league, they will still be part of the European Super League next season . Even if the remaining clubs get the top 4, they can only participate in a Champions League without most of the giants.
Teams like Everton, Roma and Leverkusen, no matter how well they perform in the league, will find it difficult to get the five non-fixed places in the European Super League other than the 15 teams.
This method of replacing competition for qualification with monopoly places will undoubtedly make those wealthy clubs focus their energy on the European Super League to obtain a better ranking and win more European Super League broadcasting revenue. By then, not only will the Champions League become useless, but all the top five leagues will become useless, not to mention the countries and their clubs outside the top five leagues.
In this case, sponsors, broadcasters, and fans will withdraw and all move to the European Super League. Not only will the prosperity of the Premier League no longer exist, but top leagues such as La Liga and Serie A will also completely enter a cold winter.
Let's think about it from another perspective. For Barcelona, playing against Viktoria Plzen might be a torture, but for the players and fans of Viktoria Plzen, entering the Champions League and playing against a giant like Barcelona was their biggest motivation to strive to be at the top of the league last season.
For Barcelona, the money they received from playing against Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League group stage is not worth mentioning, but for Viktoria Plzen, this money is a huge number that can affect the entire fiscal year.
After the European Super League opens, teams like this will never be given the last five non-fixed places. "
Ferre: "There is a voice that the reason why European football can be so prosperous is actually due to the promotion of these giant clubs. The giants make more money and will still buy players from small and medium-sized clubs.
No one watches those small and medium leagues. Even if they make it to the Champions League, they will be eliminated in the group stage. So whether there is a Champions League or not has little impact on the overall situation. "
Chen Xiaoliang: "In my country, when fans talk about European football, they often envy the league classification in places like Germany and England. There are as many as eight or nine leagues and a large number of amateur club competitions, which have created the foundation of football and also ensured that there are places for children to play and learn football.
This is a football environment and football culture that has been formed over time.
But in our place, the second-level league is already unpopular, not to mention the third-level league and the amateur league.
From another perspective, Ibrahimovic came from the youth training of Malmö in Sweden, Lewandowski became famous in the Polish Third League, Jorginho's first club in Europe was San Bonifacio in the second group of the Italian Third League, and Mbappe came from the Clairefontaine youth training camp.
There are countless examples like this. Nowadays, a large number of football stars are trained by so-called small football countries and second-rate club youth training systems.
Not only can these clubs make money from selling players, FIFA and UEFA have also set up a youth training compensation mechanism, and can also charge a fixed percentage of fees during the player's future transfer process.
How many players can the 12 European Super League clubs buy? Even if each team only has 3 youth players, and the rest are all bought from other clubs, each team buys 20 people, which adds up to 240 players. The actual number will be even less than this. What about the remaining players? They all flow to clubs like Aston Villa, Lazio, Lille, and even Celtic and Alkmaar.
Now, the departure of 12 clubs has drained away a large amount of dividends from the Champions League and various national leagues, leaving the clubs in the five major leagues with only a very small share of the money. The smaller clubs and leagues that supplied them with players could originally rely on a small portion of funds from the Champions League and the Europa League, plus selling players to maintain their development, but now this money is gone, and the mid-level clubs have less money to buy players. So what can they rely on to train their youth?
The reason why these 12 giants in the European Super League can prosper is that they stand at the top of the pyramid of European football, but if the base of this pyramid collapses, their prosperity will no longer exist.
Just imagine, it is precisely because of the fair distribution of the Premier League that the relegated teams can all get more than 100 million pounds, which greatly increases the purchasing power of the entire league. The giants can continue to buy top stars, and the mid- and lower-level teams can easily spend 30 to 50 million to buy a strong player. This has created the prosperity of the entire league, thus attracting capital investment in Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Wolves, and Newcastle. "
Ferre: "The last view is that intensive confrontations between giants can speed up the progress of football. They think that a large number of games with low-level teams is a waste of time and will only create more barbaric, unskilled and backward football."
Chen Xiaoliang: "If working behind closed doors can improve the level of football, then China's football should have entered the World Cup in the era of the national system."
Ferre: "You gave a lot of reasons, but I thought of what a deceased writer in your country once said, 'It has always been like this, is it right?', the five major leagues, the Champions League, are they not like this? Things that have always existed are not necessarily correct, right?"
Chen Xiaoliang was surprised that the editor-in-chief of a French football magazine knew this famous quote: "In fact, the writer you mentioned also said: 'The brave are angry and draw their swords towards the stronger, and the cowardly are angry and draw their swords towards the weaker.'"
Ferre: "Aren't those clubs challenging UEFA, which is stronger than them?"
Chen Xiaoliang: "They are not challenging UEFA, they are just sucking the blood of small and medium-sized clubs. What does it mean to challenge UEFA? It means uniting the football associations and clubs of most countries to develop a more complete, fairer, more scientific and reasonable competition system than UEFA to replace the current method.
Instead of abandoning their poor friends and playing by themselves in a small circle because they think the money they get is too little, they just create a small circle and play by themselves.
So this system is doomed to fail. G14 will not succeed, and the European Super League will not succeed either, because it is unpopular and too many countries, football associations and clubs will oppose it.
Even if, I just say even if the European Court of Justice finally rules that UEFA cannot sanction the European Super League, but we know that the UK has already left the EU, and the EU Court of Justice's ruling will not affect the British government and the English Football Association. Without the entry of Premier League teams, the European Super League will definitely not work.
Moreover, UEFA and governments have many ways to circumvent the ruling to punish those clubs and players, and the EU Court's ruling will not have much effect on FIFA. "
Fei Lei: "Aren't you worried that what you said today will affect your chances of getting into those wealthy families in the future?"
Chen Xiaoliang: "I am just a player. As you said, I am not even a European player. What I say will not change the status quo. Roma is not a participant in the European Super League, so the club has never restricted the players' external speech. In short, what I say now only represents a football practitioner. The decision-making power lies in the hands of a very small number of people. What I can do is the same as 99% of people, which is to wait and see."
Ferre: "What do you think of Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain not joining the European Super League?"
Chen Xiaoliang: "Let's talk about Paris Saint-Germain first. Their chairman is not only a member of the UEFA board of directors, but his BeIN Media Group also owns the broadcasting rights of the Champions League. Even if we don't consider the competitive factors, from a commercial perspective, no one will shoot themselves in the foot.
Then these two clubs have a distinct feature. They have achieved absolute dominance in their domestic leagues, and they hardly have to consider the risk of not being able to enter the Champions League. They also have no financial difficulties. Although their methods of achieving financial balance are different, the current model of domestic league plus Champions League is sufficient to meet their operational needs. "
Ferre: "Thank you for accepting our interview today. Can you express your feelings in Rome in one sentence? Just treat it as a gift to yourself."
Chen Xiaoliang thought about it and couldn't help but smile knowingly: "I don't have one for myself, but there is one sentence for the head coach."
Frey and Thor looked at each other and immediately became interested.
Chen Xiaoliang: "I have walked through the green mountains and never grow old, the scenery here is unique."
Fei Lei, who was well versed in Red Country literature, smiled and shook his head slightly, and couldn't help but applaud.
After the photographer turned off the camera, Ferre and Torsh told Chen Xiaoliang very sincerely that they had been dealing with players for most of their lives, but today's interview was definitely one of the most memorable ones.
By the end of the interview, both of them almost forgot that they were interviewing a 17-year-old young player. It felt like they were communicating with a senior official from UEFA or a big club, or chatting with a legendary player who had retired many years ago and had experienced many hardships. The scope of the discussion also went far beyond the usual interview topics in games and training, and went into the development of football and even the laws of its operation.
Finally, Ferre said that he had already thought about it and would use the sentence "I have traveled all over the mountains and I am still young, the scenery here is the best" as the title of this interview and put it in the next issue of "France Football".
The news quickly reached Mourinho's office.
He immediately searched the meaning of this poem on the computer.
Even as a Portuguese, he had heard of the great man, but it was the first time he knew that the great man was also a romantic poet.
After reading the detailed explanation, Mourinho immediately understood what Chen Xiaoliang meant by saying this to him.
"This kid can actually see my inner state?"
"Or have my fatigue been discovered by the team members?"
He turned off the poetry explanation, leaned back in his chair, crossed his hands over his chest, and stared into a daze.
He thought of Porto's Champions League miracle, Chelsea's Premier League dominance, Inter Milan's treble achievement, and the Earth Derby between Real Madrid and Barcelona.
I also thought of the Europa League during Manchester United's difficult times and the League Cup final against Tottenham, which I failed to lead the team to.
After being stunned for a while and returning to reality, the real-time league standings on the computer desktop caught my eye.
At this time, Futi knocked on the door outside the office.
"What's up?"
"Jose, you asked me to come at 3 o'clock to get tomorrow's training plan."
"Oh, yes." The training for the players who did not play yesterday ended at 3 o'clock. As an assistant coach, Forti had to prepare for tomorrow's matters.
Mourinho switched to the training schedule that he had prepared long ago, clicked the "Send" button, then turned off the computer, stood up, and patted Forti on the back:
"Finish it sooner and go back to rest sooner, better days are ahead."
Forti was stunned. Ever since he was transferred to the position of assistant coach, he has been cautious and respectful when facing this boss with a strong personality, for fear of repeating João's mistakes. Why is the head coach in such a good mood today?
But no matter how suspicious he was, he still answered happily: "Okay, leave the scene to me, and you go back and rest early."
Mourinho didn't know whether he was answering Forti or talking to himself: "I'm old now, I should take more rest, otherwise how can I work for another ten or eight years?"
